New York Plans Stronger Sports Betting Regulation to Curb Gambling Addiction
Gambling regulators in New York on Friday formally proposed two rules that they say will help curb gambling addiction in the state.
The move adds the country’s largest sports betting market to a growing list of places that are seeking online gambling reforms as states that have legalized wagering on sports in recent years deal with the harmful side effects, including rising addiction diagnoses there.
While the drafts have been months in the making, their official introduction follows mounting media scrutiny, including a ProPublica investigation last month that showed weaknesses in the guardrails that companies like DraftKings have erected to address problem gamblers on their platforms. That system is called “responsible gaming.”
The commission’s chair, Brian O’Dwyer, said that the proposed rules “provide an opportunity for the industry to illustrate its commitment” to protecting its customers.
“The industry is on notice by me and this commission that they need to solve this problem,” O’Dwyer said. “If the industry does not address it, then we will address it and they may not like the solution that we come up with.”
One of the new rules would effectively adopt guidelines that New Jersey already uses, requiring sportsbooks to follow specific thresholds to identify at-risk bettors. The company would then be mandated to check in with those users. Another rule would bar companies from using artificial intelligence to customize bonuses or wagers.
DraftKings, one of the country’s largest sports betting companies, has said it already follows the New Jersey trigger thresholds. Among them: depositing more than $10,000 in a 24-hour period or wagering more than $1 million in a 90-day period.
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